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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25917877">Comfortable distance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexysRosenberg/pseuds/AlexysRosenberg'>AlexysRosenberg</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Keitor, SHEITH - Freeform, implied nsfw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:22:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,089</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25917877</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexysRosenberg/pseuds/AlexysRosenberg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith sat up, sleep leaving him like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him. With labored breathing and eyes of liquid gold, he did not realize that his claws were piercing the blanket he held in his hands like a rope for safety. A dream. Yet another stupid nightmare since the war was over. Lotor had said they were probably due to Quintessence poisoning, all efforts to save Shiro had exposed him to more than even an Altean was suggested to. Shiro and Lotor. The thought hit him like a slap, and he looked around, finding them both at his sides, sound asleep.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Lotor (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Comfortable distance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This work is my birthday gift for Yuki. I love you so much, you're a fantastic person and an amazing friend 💚</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith sat up, sleep leaving him like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him. With labored breathing and eyes of liquid gold, he did not realize that his claws were piercing the blanket he held in his hands like a rope for safety. It was the familiar sounds of the Blade of Marmora base he was in that appeased his survival instincts and brought him back to his senses. A dream. Yet another stupid nightmare since the war was over. Twisted images of real events, mixed with fears and terrors that had gripped him for years, since that "Pilot Error", a confused mass of colors, screams and pain, which took his breath away. Lotor had said they were probably due to Quintessence poisoning, all efforts to save Shiro had exposed him to more than even an Altean was suggested to. Shiro and Lotor. The thought hit him like a slap, and he looked around, finding them both at his sides, sound asleep. Any form of anxiety and tension immediately left Keith's body, making him sigh with relief as he saw the serene faces of the two men beside him. It had been less than a year since their lives had gained a semblance of normalcy, when a SOS signal had reached the Garrison.</p><p>"It's out of question" Allura had begun with a solemn tone "You won't go back alone in that sector, that's where-" the words died in the princess's throat but she didn't need to speak, everyone knew what had happened in that place.</p><p>It was the unanimous decision of Voltron's paladins to all go together in response to that signal, coming from a tiny Galra escape pod, not unlike those used several times by them to escape enemy bases. Inside, on the abyss of oblivion, stood Lotor. Clammy skin, tainted by the Quintessence, practically insane but harmless, almost pathetically such, a pitiful sight as he watched them through the long curtain of silver hair, before being placed in a medical pod. He never told, even after emptying the castle kitchen to recover his strength, how he had survived, or what had happened to him. The only words he murmured were to ask for forgiveness, and to know if his Generals were well. No forgiveness would ever be granted to the son of Zarkon, it was evident to all, certainly even to Lotor himself. The Blade of Marmora requested that he will be entrusted to them, to be judged by a jury of his peers. Keith was there, at the invitation of Kolivan and his mother, when the sentence of incarceration was passed and a small smile of relief formed on Lotor's face, not at all threatening, as if somehow this certainty he had, confirming itself true , had given him some peace at the prospect of what might await him from now on. It made Keith's pit of stomach tighten a little at the time, as he had never known certainties since his father died. Even when Shiro returned his feelings, during that sunset spent on Black's snout, and that night when they had united body and soul for the first time, despite the immense joy and gratitude towards a universe that always seemed to throw curved balls at him, Keith knew that the future ahead was anything but certain and definite. In a way, he had felt envious of Lotor at the time. Shiro, with his role as Admiral, was constantly overwhelmed with work, so much so that during Keith's brief visits to Earth their time together was shrinking at every occasion, to the chagrin of both. Shiro had gradually begun to develop resentment towards the Garrison, it was absolutely out of character on his part and they were both aware of it but he could not help it, not when his only source of stability, Keith, the man who had faced the whole universe for him, was forced to settle for a short hug on his arrival and little more than that because of all the formal meetings in the presence of all the bigwigs of the Garrison. There was no intimacy, there was no way to hold hands, they didn't even have time to kiss without Shiro's datapad trilling calling him to attention. All this, combined with the fact that Shiro had never loved office work and that he craved the immensity of space with growing passion, prompted him to run after Keith the time his resilience was totally over.</p><p>"Bring me with you." he practically begged, and Keith didn't have it repeated twice.</p><p>Leaving Atlas was difficult, but she remained hidden in the back of Shiro's mind, like an old friend who supported his decision to be free. Keith was certain she was still there, he had seen Shiro get lost in contemplation of space more than once and move his lips in what was less than a whisper, and smile blissfully. She talked to him, and he found comfort in confirming that following Keith was the right thing. For his part, Keith couldn't be happier to have Shiro by his side. After so many years of looking for him and running after him, Shiro was finally there with him. His happiness was immense, so much so that more than once Kolivan had called him to attention.</p><p>"Kit." he always began, the serious and commanding tone mixed with the evident affection that he, and all the BOM members, had developed for Krolia's son "I am aware of your enthusiasm for having your soulmate next to you, but do not let this affect the outcome of your missions."</p><p>And Keith had promised, he would never want to let Kolivan down in any way, not after everything he and everyone else had done for him. Thus, he had been diligent and had separated his work and love life, even when Shiro accompanied him, he allowed himself intimate moments with his beloved only on the way back. It helped a lot, having Shiro by your side. For all those planets that still feared the Galra and their tyrannical dominion, the presence of a human, and a war hero, served to appease the spirits. Voices of the "Champion" became more and more rare, as if they belonged to a reality that had never existed. Shiro and Keith could only be happy with this decline in fame, if it could be defined as such. But Shiro's presence was also essential for Keith's mood and well-being, who hadn't felt this kind of euphoria since Shiro first took him to race with their Hoverboards in the desert. Everything seemed perfect, ideal. Until they came to a standstill in their mission. Their work as an aid and relief organization consisted mainly of going to the planets that had suffered oppression, offering them resources to be able to recover and make arrangements for the reconstruction of buildings that had been destroyed during the war. It was a job full of mixed emotions, Keith soon realized. Watching the gratitude of the people they helped filled his heart with joy, gave purpose and meaning to his days, but seeing the destruction that members of his own race had brought everywhere in the universe was always a bitter pill. Keith tried not to think about it, he told himself that they were not at all like him, that he had seen and known Galras totally different from the malice that were people like Zarkon and Sendak, yet he could not totally remove this sense of unease, which invariably struck in the sense of guilt when the damages to the populations were particularly great. Keith was not the only one in the universe to believe such thoughts, countless planets had refused any attempt at approach and contact precisely because they had no desire to have anything to do with the Galra, neither now nor ever, it didn't matter that Keith was the one who put an end to Sendak's violence. This was where Lotor came into play.</p><p>"Mmmh" the soft sound distracted Keith from his thoughts, bringing him back to that reality where he was sitting, in the dark illuminated only by flashes of neon light that occasionally crossed the walls of the room. Keith stroked the silver hair of both men at his side, unsure which of them had been moaning softly in his sleep. His gesture made the marks on Lotor's cheeks glow, and the new prosthesis developed specifically for Shiro shined with a faint periwinkle light. Keith chuckled under his breath at the synchronized reaction of the two, slowly sighing now that he had calmed down.</p><p>Never would he have thought that Lotor could intercede for them with those planets that refused any help, never would he have believed that his speech would convince the populations to put aside centuries of oppression. Lotor was a born leader, he found himself thinking one day, observing how he received every insult and demeaning word, and returned words of comfort and collaboration. When Kolivan proposed this route, Keith had thought he was mad for a second. But when he went to see the fallen prince in his cell, he felt no animosity towards him, only a desire to help and to belong. For the second time, Keith's pit of stomach closed in Lotor's presence and convinced himself that maybe, that second chance he really deserved it. Shiro was against Kolivan's idea, too vividly remembering how Haggar had manipulated the clone to bring Lotor to her and how this nearly killed both him and Keith in the clone factory. It was a memory in which Shiro did not linger, for the sake of his mental health, outside of that "I love you" muttered by a suffering Keith. Despite his insistence however, Lotor became part of the team, a kind of mediator, if so you can say. Willingly or not, they found themselves spending a great deal of their time with Lotor. His hair was still incredibly long and he showed no desire to cut it, and he had started to mimic the style in which Keith wore it braided, wrapping it around the belt of the Blade uniform he had been granted for uniformity. His eyes always seemed dull, distant, and he was incredibly taciturn, even when he was surrounded by his own Generals, and he never observed the immensity of space unless he was forced to, as if seeing it caused him profound discomfort. It was in one of these episodes that Keith began to approach Lotor. Maybe because he felt an affinity with his sufferings, he was left alone and abandoned by everyone, and he had to face all sorts of pain to be victorious, but at what cost? There was a strange comfort in the fact that they were both half-Galra, which made them both feel good in each other's presence, even if they didn't speak to each other. When it did happen, it was often only for business matters as Lotor rarely imposed his presence, clearly seeing he was not liked by everyone. When Keith held out his hand to help him recover after a panic attack from the sudden vision of the cosmos, something clicked in him. No longer gloomy and silent, he often involved Keith in drafting plans for the speech he wanted to deliver for the inhabitants of the planet they would visit, asked for his advice and opinion, and even though Keith wasn't exactly good at diplomatic relations, he always offered to help him with a kind smile. Shiro hated this. He couldn't bear the idea of knowing them together, alone in a room. He had not yet named what was evident jealousy, he felt too guilty at the thought of somehow denying Keith the freedom to do what he wanted. He had taken so much of what Keith had given him over the years, that he didn't have the heart to deny him whatever he wanted, even if that meant putting up with it in silence when Lotor started to be more touchy feely with Keith. What started with a simple compliment to the beauty of his raven hair had slowly turned into a habit of hands resting on Keith's shoulders, touching in the middle of the back as they crossed the corridors of the base, hugging longer and longer to celebrate when a mission was successful. Keith was no stranger to that kind of contact, but his only familiarity about it came from Shiro, and he could see in the man's eyes how unbearable this was to him. He was still smiling at the thought of that evening he had made them both sit down to discuss the situation with each other, when Lotor had stolen a kiss from Keith following a particularly joyful day together.</p><p>"I would be grateful if you would limit your showing of affection towards Keith." Shiro had begun, the tips of his ears red with the shame of admitting that he wanted such a thing.</p><p>"I'm afraid it's not possible." Lotor had replied, playing with the waves of the last bit of his braid "The affection I have developed towards Keith is a source of extreme comfort, and it is not my intention to deprive Keith of the demonstration of how beneficial he is in my life."</p><p>"He truly is, isn't he?" Shiro murmured, before correcting himself, embarrassed "But according to human customs, that kind of gestures are reserved for two people who love each other and-"</p><p>"And I love Keith." he replied without batting an eyelid, turning to the object of his feelings "I don't see where the problem lies, can't you accept the idea that Keith gets all the love and affection he deserves? "</p><p>"Stop, stop." red to his ears, Keith stopped them before Shiro could punch the prince "Lotor, I'm flattered, really, but I can't reciprocate your feelings, not in the way you want."</p><p>It seemed almost like Keith slapped him, so Lotor winced.</p><p>"The fact is" continued Keith, taking Lotor by the hand "that I have always loved Shiro, and I could never feel for others what I feel for him" without letting go of the prince's hand, he took Shiro's in his hands "I don't mind gestures of affection, I'm not very used to them, but if you wish to continue to show your feelings for me in this way, know that I will not be able to reciprocate in the way you wish" the tone was sweet but firm and when he raised his eyes to Lotor's , the prince had big tears running down his face and he tried in every way not to tremble.</p><p>"I can't lose you, Keith." he murmured in a sob, lowering his head "I've already lost everything and you are the only source of joy in my life, please don't go!" he cried looking at him with eyes full of despair, apparently unbridgeable.</p><p>"Lotor" Keith held him in a sweet embrace "I could never abandon you, I also feel a great affection for you, it's just different from what I feel for Shiro." he felt Lotor's arms hold him.</p><p>"R-really?" he sobbed against his neck.</p><p>"Really." Keith promised "You don't have to be afraid, I could never leave you." This seemed to somehow ease Lotor's sobs, but not his shaking.</p><p>"Can I continue to be with you, and show you how important you are to me?" he asked in a broken whisper.</p><p>"You can." Shiro replied, smiling kindly at the prince to make him understand that there was no animosity between them "But you must respect Keith's wishes, as you said he deserves to receive every form of affection possible. I promise not to get angry, for the attention that you will reserve to him, if in turn you promise to be respectful."</p><p>"I promise." Lotor nodded, stroking the boy's face he had in his arms "My sweet Keith." he kissed him tenderly, and for the first time since they started getting closer, Shiro didn't feel any jealousy.</p><p>"Mmmh baby?" Shiro whispered, his voice muffled by sleep and blankets bringing Keith back to reality for the second time "Did you have a nightmare?"</p><p>"Yes." he gave a kiss on the temple of the half-asleep man "I was trying to pass it off with happy thoughts."</p><p>"I'm here baby." Shiro replied, drawing him back into that embrace in which they fell asleep "I'm here."</p><p>"I know." he whispered softly into the man's face, the memory of a kiss on both lips. "I love you."</p><p>"I love you too." Shiro replied with a big sleepy smile "How's Lotor?" Shiro asked, slipping back into sleep.</p><p>"Still knocked out from today's mission" he smiled and took one of the prince's hands putting it over his waist, prompting Lotor to embrace them both in his sleep.</p><p>It was strange, since they had started sleeping together, and sharing moments much more intimate than before, the reservations Keith had had at the beginning of that platonic relationship had completely disappeared. Now he only saw his own family when he woke up in the morning. The other members of the Blades, including Kolivan, had also adopted Lotor's way of showing affection, and did not hesitate to express with kisses and gentle touches how much they appreciated Keith's presence in their lives. It was so... bizarre? But Keith couldn't be happier, knowing that wherever he turned, there were people who loved him and would do anything to never leave him again. It was with this sweet thought that he slipped back into sleep, no more nightmares, and that in the morning he woke up with a smile on his lips. The two men beside him were still sound asleep, and Keith decided to take advantage of it. Wearing only his own shorts, he sneaked out of the room he shared with them and headed to the kitchen, inspired to prepare breakfast for everyone. It was about halfway through the preparation that he heard a slight contented sigh behind him and he turned, knife in hand, ready to defend himself, but what he saw only made him blush and wish he could wrap himself in his braid and disappear.</p><p>"Good morning, Kit." Kolivan's deep throaty voice announced the feeling of all the people, almost all of the Blades, who had gathered at the entrance to the kitchen and who had stopped to admire Keith cooking for them, including Shiro and Lotor, his mother and Kosmo too.</p><p>"Good morning," Keith announced, beaming "Breakfast is almost ready!" he was so happy.</p>
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